Pax Canadensis

May 21

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24 Un Canadien errant - theme from the ‘Patriotes Soundtrack’ 1/2 It was during the first hard years of the Patriotes’ exile, in 1842, when a student wrote new topical lyrics for an old folk song. It became an instantly popular because it eloquently expressed the longing of an exile for his native land. It is the rare matching of words and ideas with a simple, honest melody. If sung as a “chanson à répondre” you can imagine a canoe full of men in the northwest. The leader sings the couplet, then the rest of the voyageurs repeat it - using the rhythm to synchronize and pace their strokes … and the sentiment to divert their minds from the hard labour and the long day. One could hear Un Canadien errant sung both in the bush and the cities of Upper Canada - from the Rockies to Lake Winnipeg and at the most distant outposts in Canada’s northwest. from: Chansons Populaires du Canada; Ernest Gagnon; 1880; Librairie Beauchemin.

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24

Un Canadien errant - theme from the ‘Patriotes Soundtrack’ 1/2

It was during the first hard years of the Patriotes’ exile, in 1842, when a student wrote new topical lyrics for an old folk song. It became an instantly popular because it eloquently expressed the longing of an exile for his native land.

It is the rare matching of words and ideas with a simple, honest melody.

If sung as a “chanson à répondre” you can imagine a canoe full of men in the northwest. The leader sings the couplet, then the rest of the voyageurs repeat it - using the rhythm to synchronize and pace their strokes … and the sentiment to divert their minds from the hard labour and the long day.

One could hear Un Canadien errant sung both in the bush and the cities of Upper Canada - from the Rockies to Lake Winnipeg and at the most distant outposts in Canada’s northwest.

from: Chansons Populaires du Canada; Ernest Gagnon; 1880; Librairie Beauchemin.

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24 Un Canadien errant - theme from the ‘Patriotes Soundtrack’ 2/2 The melody and traditional lyrics are shown on the left page.  Antoine Gérin-Lajoie’s evocative Patriotes-inspired lyrics appear below the dash on the right page. from: Chansons Populaires du Canada; Ernest Gagnon; 1880; Librairie Beauchemin. 

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24

Un Canadien errant - theme from the ‘Patriotes Soundtrack’ 2/2

The melody and traditional lyrics are shown on the left page. 

Antoine Gérin-Lajoie’s evocative Patriotes-inspired lyrics appear below the dash on the right page.

from: Chansons Populaires du Canada; Ernest Gagnon; 1880; Librairie Beauchemin. 

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24 List of Political Prisoners from Lower Canada (1/2) … dispatched on HMS Buffalo under Captain Wood. Today’s Quebec Nationalists may prefer to focus on the 19 Patriotes hanged at the jail on Montreal’s harbourfront. I saw the late Pierre Falardeau interviewed once on francophone TV. In his furious cigarette-puffing way, he said it was simple: You have a society divided between those who are hanged and those who do the hanging! I find another story more interesting and instructive. The story of the unfortunates sentenced to Transportation to Australia (and other British colonies) suggests that a degree of mercy (some had death sentences commuted) and a degree of adaptation (some prisoners lived ‘almost’ normal lives - and without snow!) … adapted and survived to see that … the Patriotes actually made their point - by twisting the Lion’s tail - and won! A nasty little detail of British colonial policy I found a while back, was that as a freed prisoner in Australia, you had to pay your own way back if you wanted to return home. After the Patriotes were pardoned by Queen Victoria, having spent six years in Australia, societies in Montreal were formed to collect money to ‘bring the boys home’. from: Jubilé de diamant - Patriotes 1837-38 - Rôle d’Honneur’; J Douglas Borthwick; 1898; LJ Tarte et Frère, 33 and 35 Rue Saint-Gabriel, Montreal.

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24

List of Political Prisoners from Lower Canada (1/2)

… dispatched on HMS Buffalo under Captain Wood.

Today’s Quebec Nationalists may prefer to focus on the 19 Patriotes hanged at the jail on Montreal’s harbourfront. I saw the late Pierre Falardeau interviewed once on francophone TV. In his furious cigarette-puffing way, he said it was simple: You have a society divided between those who are hanged and those who do the hanging!

I find another story more interesting and instructive.

The story of the unfortunates sentenced to Transportation to Australia (and other British colonies) suggests that a degree of mercy (some had death sentences commuted) and a degree of adaptation (some prisoners lived ‘almost’ normal lives - and without snow!) … adapted and survived to see that … the Patriotes actually made their point - by twisting the Lion’s tail - and won!

A nasty little detail of British colonial policy I found a while back, was that as a freed prisoner in Australia, you had to pay your own way back if you wanted to return home. After the Patriotes were pardoned by Queen Victoria, having spent six years in Australia, societies in Montreal were formed to collect money to ‘bring the boys home’.

from: Jubilé de diamant - Patriotes 1837-38 - Rôle d’Honneur’; J Douglas Borthwick; 1898; LJ Tarte et Frère, 33 and 35 Rue Saint-Gabriel, Montreal.

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24 List of Political Prisoners from Lower Canada (2/2) … dispatched on HMS Buffalo under Captain Wood. As you can see, a number of professions and occupations are represented. This book was collected by my paternal grandfather (also a Quebec-born anglophone) for his library of French Canadian works. from: Jubilé de diamant - Patriotes 1837-38 - Rôle d’Honneur’; J Douglas Borthwick; 1898; LJ Tarte et Frère, 33 and 35 Rue Saint-Gabriel, Montreal.

#Patriotes #cdnhistory #Victoria #May24

List of Political Prisoners from Lower Canada (2/2)

… dispatched on HMS Buffalo under Captain Wood.

As you can see, a number of professions and occupations are represented.

This book was collected by my paternal grandfather (also a Quebec-born anglophone) for his library of French Canadian works.

from: Jubilé de diamant - Patriotes 1837-38 - Rôle d’Honneur’; J Douglas Borthwick; 1898; LJ Tarte et Frère, 33 and 35 Rue Saint-Gabriel, Montreal.

#cdnhistory #cdnpoli #Patriotes #May24 #Victoria La Journée Nationale des Patriotes (2002) Since 2002, Quebec has celebrated this holiday instead of [Queen] Victoria Day (Victoria’s reign was 1837-1901, but she could have done little personally to precipitate Canadian unrest at this early point of her reign). La Journée Nationale des Patriotes commemorates the poorly-armed farmers, tradesmen and urban professionals who rose up against British colonial authorities, professional British land forces, and militia in Lower Canada (Quebec) in 1837-38. Although not subject to the same colonial government efforts to cultural, religious and linguistic assimilation as Lower Canada … residents of Upper Canada (Ontario) - many of them American-born immigrants and/or “United Empire Loyalists” - conducted a similar rebellion for responsible government during the same years. (“Upper Canada Spring”! “Muddy York Spring”!) Lower Canada’s (Quebec) colonial government’s operation was particularly discriminatory to francophone natives of Lower Canada (deemed “an inferior race”) and the Patriotes declared responsible democratic government as a key objective.  This interesting and often-neglected (outside of Quebec) historical subject cannot be covered properly in a series of Tumblr posts, but consider the events in the context of history: New France established 1534; Quebec City 1608; Montreal 1642 (Ville Marie). Treaty of Paris: 1763 - Quebec/”Canada” forsaken by France American Revolution: 1776-1783 French Revolution: 1789-1799 War of 1812: 1812-1814 (in Canada) Rebellions, Upper and Lower Canada: 1837-1838 In the “judicial outcomes” below … notice that none of the Upper Canadian rebels was hanged. Virtually all of them were American-born. An American invasion of British North America had been attempted about 25 years earlier and such rough justice might have tempted ‘outside forces’ from the US to invade again to help fight for ‘freedom from Britain’ and ‘democracy denied’. On the other hand, Quebec/”Canada” had been forsaken 75 years earlier by France in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, so it was perhaps assumed that executions of local rebels would provide a clear deterrent to further unrest … with no risk of foreign military intervention as a result. (They still write plays about this short-term political expediency and injustice to this very day in Quebec.) Upper Canada Judicial Outcomes Executed 0; Exiled 83 Foreign-born (outside Upper/Lower Canada): US 70; Ireland 3; Scotland 2; Nova Scotia 1.  Lower Canada Judicial Outcomes Executed 19; Exiled 58 Foreign-born (outside Upper/Lower Canada): US 1. The scan of text above is from: Les Patriotes exilés en Australie en 1839; Henri Bergevin; 1987; La Société de Généalogie de Lanaudière. The Parramatta area is just ‘up the river’ from Sydney, Australia and the bays named are clearly labelled on Google Maps. My own interest in this bit of history to follow later today.

#cdnhistory #cdnpoli #Patriotes #May24 #Victoria

La Journée Nationale des Patriotes (2002)

Since 2002, Quebec has celebrated this holiday instead of [Queen] Victoria Day (Victoria’s reign was 1837-1901, but she could have done little personally to precipitate Canadian unrest at this early point of her reign).

La Journée Nationale des Patriotes commemorates the poorly-armed farmers, tradesmen and urban professionals who rose up against British colonial authorities, professional British land forces, and militia in Lower Canada (Quebec) in 1837-38.

Although not subject to the same colonial government efforts to cultural, religious and linguistic assimilation as Lower Canada … residents of Upper Canada (Ontario) - many of them American-born immigrants and/or “United Empire Loyalists” - conducted a similar rebellion for responsible government during the same years. (“Upper Canada Spring”! “Muddy York Spring”!)

Lower Canada’s (Quebec) colonial government’s operation was particularly discriminatory to francophone natives of Lower Canada (deemed “an inferior race”) and the Patriotes declared responsible democratic government as a key objective. 

This interesting and often-neglected (outside of Quebec) historical subject cannot be covered properly in a series of Tumblr posts, but consider the events in the context of history:

In the “judicial outcomes” below … notice that none of the Upper Canadian rebels was hanged. Virtually all of them were American-born. An American invasion of British North America had been attempted about 25 years earlier and such rough justice might have tempted ‘outside forces’ from the US to invade again to help fight for ‘freedom from Britain’ and ‘democracy denied’.
On the other hand, Quebec/”Canada” had been forsaken 75 years earlier by France in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, so it was perhaps assumed that executions of local rebels would provide a clear deterrent to further unrest … with no risk of foreign military intervention as a result. (They still write plays about this short-term political expediency and injustice to this very day in Quebec.)


Upper Canada Judicial Outcomes

Lower Canada Judicial Outcomes

The scan of text above is from: Les Patriotes exilés en Australie en 1839; Henri Bergevin; 1987; La Société de Généalogie de Lanaudière.

The Parramatta area is just ‘up the river’ from Sydney, Australia and the bays named are clearly labelled on Google Maps.

My own interest in this bit of history to follow later today.

May 19

#sun #photo #astronomy Sun, May 19 Spousal, backyard, afternoon photo of sun/sunspots - of course, using appropriate solar filter for eye protection! Shot taken camera to eyepiece. Spouse complains it is time again to re-collimate her scope.  Notice that the real sun does not wear sunglasses - as is often suggested in advertising cartoons. This is Canada’s ‘Victoria Day Weekend’ and/or ‘Journée nationale des patriotes’ weekend in Quebec.

#sun #photo #astronomy

Sun, May 19

Spousal, backyard, afternoon photo of sun/sunspots - of course, using appropriate solar filter for eye protection! Shot taken camera to eyepiece. Spouse complains it is time again to re-collimate her scope. 

Notice that the real sun does not wear sunglasses - as is often suggested in advertising cartoons.

This is Canada’s ‘Victoria Day Weekend’ and/or ‘Journée nationale des patriotes’ weekend in Quebec.

Where I have been … Out in the backyard working on a small water hazard feature. After putting municipal water into the lined pond, small bubbles formed on the rubber liner. It looks as if the local suburban raccoon enjoyed a paws-in drink during the pond’s first night with water - leaving prints in the bubbles (and muddy footprints elsewhere).

Where I have been …

Out in the backyard working on a small water hazard feature. After putting municipal water into the lined pond, small bubbles formed on the rubber liner. It looks as if the local suburban raccoon enjoyed a paws-in drink during the pond’s first night with water - leaving prints in the bubbles (and muddy footprints elsewhere).

May 06

#YHZ #Halifax #lobster #NS Traditional lobster traps near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. Vacation, October 1980.

#YHZ #Halifax #lobster #NS

Traditional lobster traps near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia.

Vacation, October 1980.

May 03

ihearttrains: Last Monday I tried to shoot CP’s Albany-Waterford local D31 switching out Mohawk Paper in Cohoes. I set up on the spur and stood by my gear helplessly watching the train, doubled up with an empty ethanol train, roll by on the main. When I showed up this Monday to try again, the gate to the paper mill was unlocked and open – a good sign. However, the signals on the Colonie Main were set for a southbound train….which wouldn’t be my local. Not knowing what to expect, I changed locations and set up for whichever train was heading south into Albany. A neighbor came out to express concerns about my car being parked on a “private” street and me being out late taking photos. Then the police came by to check in on my setup. And then the track maintainer came over the radio announcing his work was done. Moment later, the signals changed permitting a train to come north. I could hear the train’s horn a couple miles south in Watervliet. I tossed all the gear back into the car and drove back around to Mohawk paper. D31 showed up while I was finishing spreading lighting gear around the intersection of Spring Street and Saratoga Ave. Conductor Rob protected the intersection while engineer Al shoved some boxcars into the mill. Their switching provided a couple opportunities for shots – a nice departure from shooting along the main. Moments after they left and headed to work Waterford it started to rain … good timing.

ihearttrains:

Last Monday I tried to shoot CP’s Albany-Waterford local D31 switching out Mohawk Paper in Cohoes. I set up on the spur and stood by my gear helplessly watching the train, doubled up with an empty ethanol train, roll by on the main. When I showed up this Monday to try again, the gate to the paper mill was unlocked and open – a good sign. However, the signals on the Colonie Main were set for a southbound train….which wouldn’t be my local.

Not knowing what to expect, I changed locations and set up for whichever train was heading south into Albany. A neighbor came out to express concerns about my car being parked on a “private” street and me being out late taking photos. Then the police came by to check in on my setup. And then the track maintainer came over the radio announcing his work was done. Moment later, the signals changed permitting a train to come north. I could hear the train’s horn a couple miles south in Watervliet.

I tossed all the gear back into the car and drove back around to Mohawk paper. D31 showed up while I was finishing spreading lighting gear around the intersection of Spring Street and Saratoga Ave. Conductor Rob protected the intersection while engineer Al shoved some boxcars into the mill. Their switching provided a couple opportunities for shots – a nice departure from shooting along the main.

Moments after they left and headed to work Waterford it started to rain … good timing.

maybeedmonton: I know this is supposed to be an Edmonton blog, but it’s hard not to be entranced by this complete dud of a mayor - look at that sweat pouring down his angry piggy face! Rob Ford threatens media blackout unless Star removes reporter from city hall beat “Mayor Rob Ford is demanding the Toronto Star remove reporter Daniel Dale from the city hall beat after a Wednesday night confrontation near the mayor’s home and says he won’t talk to any other reporters if Dale is around.” [caption] Rob Ford points in the direction where photographer Daniel Dale was standing when Ford’s neighbour noticed the stranger near the Mayor’s home.

maybeedmonton:

I know this is supposed to be an Edmonton blog, but it’s hard not to be entranced by this complete dud of a mayor - look at that sweat pouring down his angry piggy face!

Rob Ford threatens media blackout unless Star removes reporter from city hall beat

“Mayor Rob Ford is demanding the Toronto Star remove reporter Daniel Dale from the city hall beat after a Wednesday night confrontation near the mayor’s home and says he won’t talk to any other reporters if Dale is around.”

[caption] Rob Ford points in the direction where photographer Daniel Dale was standing when Ford’s neighbour noticed the stranger near the Mayor’s home.